Method for integrating audio and visual messaging

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a communication system for integrating audio and visual messaging. The communication system includes a mobile communication device for receiving visual messages and for transmitting voice messages to a recipient, a base station system in communication with the mobile communication device, an electronic mail gateway for delivering visual messages to the base station system for transmission to the mobile communication device, and an integrated mail gateway for receiving from the base station a voice message and addressing information that were both transmitted from the mobile communication device. The integrated mail gateway is programmed to create an e-mail message comprising the voice message. The integrated mail gateway is also programmed to use the addressing information to address the e-mail message, and to send the addressed e-mail message to the recipient.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/126,939, filed Mar. 29, 1999, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference, and also claims priority toU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/155,055, entitled, “System andMethod for Integrating Audio and Visual Messaging”, filed Sep. 21, 1999,the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to communication systems suchas voice paging systems, cellular telephone systems, text pagingsystems, voice mail systems, and conventional land line telephonesystems and, more specifically, to methods, systems and apparatus fornon-real-time audio and visual messaging between two messaging deviceswherein a communication device receives visual messages from a visualmessage originator device and transmits audio messages (e.g., voicemessages) to the visual message originator device for playback.

2. Discussion of the Background

A conventional mobile communication device (MCD), such as a pager or amobile telephone, can receive various types of messages. There arenumeric pagers which receive only numbers such as a telephone numbers(i.e. 818-555-1212), and there are alpha/numeric pagers which canreceive alpha/numeric messages (e.g., Please call me at 929-555-1212).Additionally, there are voice pagers which receive voice messages. Inaddition to receiving messages, pagers are often configured to transmitmessages. An alpha/numeric pager may be configured to receivealpha/numeric messages from an Internet-based computer and to transmitto the Internet-based computer originator alpha/numeric reply messages.Similarly, a voice pager that receives voice messages from atelephone-based originator can be configured to transmit a voice messageto a voice mail system for retrieval by the originator via a telephone.In short, alpha/numeric pagers are configured to transmit alpha/numericreply messages and voice pagers are configured to transmit voice replymessages.

In the field of wireless messaging generally, numeric and alpha/numericmessaging is, by far, more bandwidth efficient than voice messaging.Radio spectrum is a dwindling resource and wireless messaging companiesare increasingly sensitive to their bandwidth efficiencies. Betterbandwidth utilization means more capacity on the system. More capacityequates to more customers. Hence, the wireless messaging industry hasmigrated from voice paging to alpha/numeric paging in order to provide abandwidth efficient, robust and high information content messagingservice for their so called “road warrior” customers.

However, to date, there is no simple method for sending a messagecontaining more than a small amount of information from an alpha/numericpager. Generally, alpha/numeric pagers that have the ability to sendmessages are configured to transmit small, preprogrammed (“canned”) textmessages, such as “1 will call you tonight” or “yes” or “no” or “I willreply later.” Other alpha/numeric pagers have been configured with aminiature, QWERTY type, text keyboard. The miniature keyboards aredifficult to type on because of their size. This makes input very slow,inaccurate and very annoying to operate. Additionally, the miniaturesize of the keyboard is still too large for a pocket-sized pager.

Audio pagers are generally larger than keyboardless alpha/numericpagers, in part because of the large speaker required in order toreproduce a high quality, audible audio message. An audio pager'sbattery life is lower than an alpha/numeric pager due to the amount oftime it takes to receive a message and the amount of power required toprocess and play the message.

One solution to the above problem is to route a mobile telephoneoriginated voice reply message to a computer. However, it's simply notconvenient to send a voice message via a mobile telephone, configure acomputer to receive a voice reply message and then mentally correlatethe sent and received messages together (i.e. Was the reply “sounds goodto me” meant to be an answer to the message, “I will pay $140,000.00 foryour home” or “lets have lunch tomorrow at the fish place”).

A need, therefore, exists to blend audio (e.g., voice) and visual (e.g.,text and/or graphics) messaging in a manner that conserves valuablebandwidth and simplifies user input of messages in a mobilecommunication device. An attempt to that end, is the so-called “smartphone.” Smart Phones are wireless mobile telephones that have addedfeatures, implying that they are smarter than the average telephone.These features may include a numeric and alpha/numeric messagingfeature, a personal digital assistant (PDA), computer functions,Internet access, and a miniature keyboard. Similar to an alpha/numericpager, many mobile telephones today are capable of receivingalpha/numeric messages and have the capability of connecting to theInternet for sending alpha/numeric reply messages via a miniaturekeyboard. There is a need to simplify the input of reply messages intowireless devices for delivery of the reply messages to the originatingdevice, wherein both messages may be correlated.

In an alpha/numeric pager messaging environment; text messages areroutinely exchanged between a computer and a text pager (i.e. textin/text out). In a voice pager messaging environment, voice messages areroutinely exchanged between a telephone configured voice mail system anda voice pager (i.e. voice in/voice out). In a mobile telephone messagingenvironment, as with an alpha/numeric pager, text messages routinely areexchanged in non real-time (i.e. text in/text out). However, mobiletelephones also have the ability to make and receive real-time voicecalls. More often than not, when a mobile telephone user receives a textmessage requiring some type of response, he or she will simply use themobile telephone to place a real-time telephone call to the messageoriginator. In many cases, the line is busy because the originator iseither on the phone or connected to the Internet. In either case, themobile caller is diverted to a voice mail system or answering device andis instructed to leave a message, which is then retrieved by the calledperson at a later time.

Many people prefer to communicate by messaging as opposed to real-timeconversation in order to manage their time. Thus, there is a need for adevice that can not only send non real-time text messages, but alsoreceive non real-time voice messages (i.e. text out/voice in). At thewireless side of the messaging loop, there is a need to send nonreal-time voice messages from the same mobile device that receives nonreal-time text messages (i.e. text in/voice out).

It is widely accepted in the field of two way paging, that only afraction of received messages generate a reply message response. On theother hand, when text message reception capability is combined with amobile telephone, the mobile telephone user will attempt to reply muchmore often via a real-time voice call. Mobile telephone companies callthis process “call completion” and it is highly favored among mobiletelephone companies because additional calling generates more revenue.There is a need to increase reply traffic in a wireless environmentwithout decreasing the efficiency of text message delivery to a mobilecommunication device. There is also a need to simplify the input ofmessages in a mobile communication device, such as a pager or wirelessmobile telephone. Finally, there is a need for a wireless messagingsystem that provides end to end audio and visual messaging, wherein onlyone device is required at each end of the messaging loop (e.g., computeron the one end and mobile communication device on the other).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a communication system for integratingaudio and visual messaging. The communication system includes acommunication device for receiving visual messages and for transmittingvoice messages to a recipient, and an integrated mail gateway forreceiving from the communication device a voice message and addressinginformation. The integrated mail gateway is programmed to create anelectronic mail (hereinafter “e-mail”) message comprising the voicemessage. The integrated mail gateway is also programmed to use theaddressing information to address the e-mail message, and to send theaddressed e-mail message to the recipient.

Preferably, the communication device is a wireless mobile communicationdevice. However, this is not a requirement. The present invention iscontemplated to be used with wireless as well as non-wirelesscommunication devices.

In one embodiment, the communication system is used by a user of acommunication device to send a voice message in reply to a receivedvisual message. For example, consider the situation where a first personuses a messaging device with Internet e-mail capability to transmit avisual message to a second person. The communication system of thepresent invention enables the second person to easily transmit a voicereply message to the first user's messaging to device. In oneembodiment, the second person uses a communication device (such as aconventional telephone or mobile telephone having visual messagereception capability) to establish a telephone call with an integratedmail gateway (IMG) that preferably has access to the visual message sentto the second person. After the telephone call is established, thesecond person uses the communication device to transmit, or thecommunication device automatically transmits, to the IMG addressinginformation associated with the visual message received from the firstperson. For example, a keypad on the communication device could be usedto transmit the addressing information, or a processor in thecommunication device can be programmed to automatically transmit theaddressing information. In one embodiment, after the IMG receives theaddressing information, it prompts the second user to begin speaking avoice reply message for the first person after hearing a tone. The IMGrecords and stores the voice reply message. Optionally, the IMG willformat the voice reply message into a conventional audio file format.The IMG then creates an e-mail message and includes the voice replymessage in the e-mail. Optionally, the e-mail message includes at leastpart of the received visual message to which the voice message is areply. The IMG uses the addressing information provided by the mobilecommunication device to address the e-mail message. After the e-mailmessage has been addressed, the e-mail message can be sent to the firstuser. Upon receiving the e-mail message, the first user's messagingdevice can play the voice reply message associated with the originalvisual message so that the voice reply message is heard by the firstuser.

Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as thestructure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention,are described in detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form partof the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the presentinvention and, together with the description, further serve to explainthe principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in thepertinent art to make and use the invention. In the drawings, likereference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifiesthe drawing in which the reference number first appears.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a communication system accordingto the present invention.

FIGS. 2A-2D are diagrams of a routing map illustrating a voice messagepath from a mobile communication device to a messaging device.

FIG. 3 illustrates in block form a mobile communication device accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process for sending a voice reply messageaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of one embodiment of an integratedmail gateway and electronic mail gateway.

FIGS. 6A-6C are flow diagrams of a process for receiving voice messagesfrom a mobile communication device.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a visual message received and displayedby a messaging device.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a reply message received and displayedby a messaging device.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary address list message.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A first embodiment of the present invention is hereinafter described,with reference to the diagram of FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates two mobilecommunication devices, a paging transceiver 140 and mobile telephone145, for communicating with messaging devices 105(1), 105(2), and105(3), collectively referred to as messaging device 105. Morespecifically, the paging transceiver 140 and mobile telephone 145 areconfigured for receiving visual messages from and transmitting audiomessages to the messaging device 105. Visual messages include suchmessages as text messages (i.e. alpha/numeric messages) and graphicmessages, which can include text and graphic images. A messaging deviceis a device having the ability to send and receive visual messages. Anexample of a messaging device is a personal computer configured withe-mail software and a connection to the Internet. Messaging devices arewell known to those skilled in the art of computers and communications.

Preferably, messaging device 105 is directly connected to a data network120 (such as the Internet or other like network) or connected to aninternet service provider (ISP) 170(1) or 170(2) (such as AmericaOnline) that has a connection to data network 120. ISP 170(1) and 170(2)each has a point of presence including data storage and retrievalequipment for enabling e-mail services and file transfer as is well knowto those skilled in the art of internet communications. Messaging device105(3) is shown connecting to ISP 170(2) through PSTN 110. Although thisis the most common way today for messaging devices to connect to an ISP,other connectivity options are available, such as satellite links andcable modems. Messaging device 105 is enabled for two-way e-mail andfile transfer communications. Data network 120 is a communicationsnetwork for transporting data. There are no limits to the type of datacarried by data network 120. For example, the data can be simple textdata or it can be voice or video.

An integrated message gateway (IMG) 150, is connected to a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN) 110 for automated storage andforwarding of audio messages. Operation of the IMG 150 will be describedin detail hereinafter.

A Mobile Switching Office (MSO) 125 (also referred to as a base station)comprises all of the necessary equipment and software for enablingcommunications between mobile telephone 145 and PSTN 110 as well as datanetwork 120. The MSO 125 and mobile telephone 145 are configured forvoice communications and visual messaging. Other than the improvementsto be described in detail hereinafter, the MSO 125 and mobile telephone145 components are readily available and are well known to those skilledin the art of mobile telephone communications. The mobile telephonesystem described herein may be configured to operate using variousformat technologies well known in the art of mobile telephone systemssuch as for example, CDMA, TDMA, GSM, N-AMPS, etc.

A Pager Switching Office (PSO) 130 (also referred to as a base station),comprises all of the necessary equipment and software for enablingcommunications between a paging transceiver 140 and the PSTN 110 or thedata network 120. The PSO 130 and paging transceiver 140 are configuredfor voice messaging from the paging transceiver 140 to the PSO 130 andfor visual messaging from the PSO 130 to the paging transceiver 140.Visual messaging is well known to those skilled in the art of pagingsystems. Paging systems capable of transmitting visual messages may bepurchased from Motorola, a U.S. manufacturer of paging equipment. Voicepaging systems are also well known to those skilled in the art of pagingsystems. Motorola manufacturers paging systems for transmitting voicemessages to voice pagers. Readycom of Chapel Hill, N.C. produces asystem for transmitting voice messages to cellular voice pagers and fortransmitting voice messages from cellular voice pagers.

Other than the improvements to be described in detail hereinafter, thePSO 130 and paging transceiver 140 components are readily available andare well known to those skilled in the art of paging communications. Thepaging system described herein may be configured to operate usingvarious format technologies well known to those skilled in the art ofmobile telephone systems and paging systems, such as for exampleInflection, pACT, TDMA, etc.

In operation, a user (not shown) enters an e-mail message via a keyboard(not shown) attached to messaging device 105. The e-mail message isaddressed to one or more communication devices, such as pagingtransceiver 140 and/or a mobile telephone 145. The e-mail message isrouted through the data network 120 to MSO 125 or PSO 130 fortransmission to the designated communication device(s).

The mobile communication device receives/retrieves and stores the e-mailmessage and, optionally, alerts the user that a message has beenreceived. The user may view the message from a display screen on thecommunication device. In order to reply to the e-mail message, the usersimply activates a reply command (e.g., the user can press a “reply”button or select a “reply” menu option) and then speaks a voice messageinto the mobile communication device microphone (not shown). The voicemessage and addressing data are transmitted to the wireless systemoperator (i.e., MSO 125 or PSO 130) and forwarded to the IMG 150. TheIMG 150 formats the voice message into an acceptable messaging fileformat. It then creates an e-mail message with the formatted voicemessage attached thereto. Optionally, part or all of the received visualmessage is included in the e-mail message, thus providing the e-mailoriginator with a means to easily identify the message to which thevoice message is a reply. The e-mail message is then sent to the ISP170(1) for retrieval by messaging device 105(2) or is sent directly tomessaging device 105(1). The user of messaging device 105 then listensto the formatted voice message using an audio system.

The process of sending an e-mail message from a messaging device 105 toa mobile communication device is well known to those skilled in the artof wireless visual messaging systems. However, the integration of audioand visual messaging presents novel features never before available to awireless service company or end user. With the present invention, acellular telephone company may now offer integrated (i.e., audio/visual)messaging services which are transported over the Internet, therebyachieving a substantial reduction in cost. Cellular telephone companiesare offering e-mail type text messaging to mobile telephone subscriberstoday (through the Internet). In short, the cellular telephone companyis already connected to the Internet. The present invention provides newopportunities for transporting non real-time voice messages over anetwork connection that would not be possible in real-time.

Referring to FIG. 2A, there is shown a routing map illustrating a voicemessage path from a mobile telephone 145 to messaging device 105(2),wherein a remote IMG 150 is configured for dial up service and locatedbetween the data network 120 and the PSTN 110. A mobile user 202 speaksa voice message into the mobile telephone 145. The voice message istransmitted to the MSO 125 and routed through the PSTN 110 to the IMG150. The IMG 150 stores and formats the voice message and sends it as ane-mail through the data network 120 to ISP 170(1). Messaging device105(2) retrieves the voice message from service provider 170(1), and thevoice message is played back on the messaging device 105(2) to a user204.

Referring to FIG. 2B, there is shown a routing map illustrating a voicemessage path from a mobile telephone 145 to messaging device 105(2)wherein IMG 150 is privately connected to the MSO 125. The mobile user202 speaks a voice message into the mobile telephone 145. The voicemessage is transmitted to the MSO 125 and routed to the IMG 150. The IMG150 stores and formats the voice message and sends it as an e-mailthrough the data network 120 to ISP 170(1). Preferably, IMG 150 usesdata network 120 to send the voice message to service provider 170(1).However, one skilled in the art will appreciate that IMG 150 can have adirect connection to service provider 170(1), thereby bypassing datanetwork 120. Messaging device 105(2) retrieves the voice message fromservice provider 170(1), and the voice message is played back on themessaging device 105(2) to the user 204.

Referring now to FIG. 2C, there is shown a routing map illustrating avoice message path from paging transceiver 140 to messaging device105(2), wherein an IMG 150(2) is directly coupled with the PSO 130 andinterfaced to the PSO 130 e-mail network system. A pager user 206 speaksa voice message into the paging transceiver 140. The voice message isthen stored in the paging transceiver. The stored voice message istransmitted to the PSO 130 using a paging protocol and routed to the IMG150(2). The IMG 150(2) stores and formats the voice message and sends itas an e-mail through the data network 120 to ISP 170(1). The message isthen retrieved and played by the messaging device 105(2).

Referring to FIG. 2D, there is shown a routing map illustrating a voicemessage path from paging transceiver 140 to messaging device 105(2),wherein an IMG 150 is privately networked to ISP 170(1). A pager user206 speaks a voice message into the paging transceiver 140. The voicemessage is transmitted to the PSO 130 and routed to a IMG 150 where thevoice message is formatted and sent via the ISP 170(1) and continues aspreviously described.

As illustrated above, a voice message may be routed from a mobilecommunication device 140, 145 to a messaging device 105 utilizing avariety of message routing designs. It is important to note that thevoice message may be routed through one particular path while a visualmessage may be routed through a different path. For example, a texte-mail message may be routed from the messaging device 105(1) throughthe data network 120 to an e-mail server and short messaging service atthe MSO 125. From the MSO 125, the visual e-mail text message istransmitted to the mobile telephone 145. The e-mail message is viewed bythe user and the user speaks a voice reply message to be delivered backto the message originator at the messaging device 105(1). The voicemessage is then routed to the messaging device 105(1) through one of, ora variation of, the routes previously described. The system operator isgiven the option to choose a two-way messaging system for voice andvisual messaging that utilizes the most efficient delivery path fortouting messages depending on the type of message to be delivered orreceived (i.e. audio or visual). An MSO 125 or PSO 130 may now utilizethe data network 120 for transporting voice messages.

Prior art systems currently exist for sending e-mail text messages froma computer over the Internet to a mobile communication device. Thepresent invention enables a mobile communication device to send a voicereply message over the Internet (or other data network) to the user thatoriginated the e-mail text message. This is a highly desirable feature.For example, consider a mobile device user who is driving a car andreceives an e-mail message to which a reply is urgently required. Such auser is unable to safely use a keyboard to enter a text reply message,but can easily create a voice reply message while keeping his or herhands on the wheel.

Referring to FIG. 3, a mobile communication device, such as a mobiletelephone 145 or a paging transceiver 140, according to one embodimentis shown in block form. An antenna 351 connects to an antenna interface352. The antenna interface 352 may be a duplexer or equivalent devicedepending on the type of mobile communication device desired. An antennaswitch, for example, may be utilized for configuration as a pagingtransceiver 140 or two antennas might be used, thereby eliminating therequirement for a duplexer. A receiver 353 and a transmitter 354 areconnected to the antenna interface 352 and processing module 355. Theprocessing module 355 includes a microprocessor, RAM and ROM memory,switching, and I/O ports.

The necessary software instructions and operating system for enablingmobile telephone 145 or paging transceiver 140 to receive visualmessages are included and well known to those skilled in the art ofmobile telephone and paging systems. Mobile telephones for two-way voicecommunications are commonly available today. Many of these mobiletelephones receive and display visual messages such as text messages.Generally, this service is called Short Messaging Service or SMS.

One format for receiving SMS is known as Cellular Digital Packet Data orCDPD. There are many variations for text messaging in mobile telephonesand there are many formats in which the text messages may betransmitted. A few mobile telephone types that receive text messagingare CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division MultipleAccess), and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). There arealso a plurality of languages and protocols for enabling a wirelessmobile telephone to communicate over the Internet. A few of them areHDML (Handheld Device Mark up Language), HDTP (Handheld Device TransportProtocol), TTML (Tagged Text Mark up Language) and WAP (WirelessApplication Protocol).

There are many prior art configurations for receiving visual messages bymobile telephone 145 or paging transceiver 140, and all suchconfigurations are herein contemplated for use in combination with thenovel features of the present invention. In short, it is widely known inthe art of wireless paging systems and mobile telephone systems thatpaging transceivers and mobile telephones receive visual messages.

The process by which a visual message, such as text, is received is notcritical. However, the novel system and method for processing thereceived message information in connection with transmitting a voicereply message will be described in detail hereinafter.

Referring again to FIG. 3, a user interface 356 connects to theprocessing module 355. The user interface 356 comprises all of the inputand output devices for interaction with the mobile communication devicesuch as speaker, alerting transducer, microphone, liquid crystal display(LCD) or light emitting diode (LED) display, switches, etc. Thesedevices are normally included with a conventional mobile telephonehaving short messaging service features. In the case of the pagingtransceiver 140, a microphone is included in the user interface 356 forenabling speech input because a conventional paging transceiver forvisual messaging does not have a microphone.

The antenna 351, antenna interface 352, receiver 353, transmitter 354,processing module 355 and user interface 356 are connected in a typicalmobile telephone or paging transceiver configuration. A controller 357and memory 358 have been included for processing of received visualmessages, storage of visual messages, and processing of transmittedvoice messages. The controller 357 comprises a conventionalmicroprocessor of the type commonly used in mobile telephones and pagingtransceivers. The controller 357 also includes a memory manager, I/Oports, RAM and ROM memory and all necessary software instructionsrequired to communicate with the processing module 355, user interface356, and memory 358. The controller 357 connects to the processingmodule 355 for receiving and sending data, messages, and commands. Thecontroller 357 is connected to memory 358 for storage and retrieval ofmessages and message data and to the user interface 356 for input andoutput interfacing with a user.

Continuing with FIG. 3, when a visual message is received by receiver353, it is stored for reproduction by the processing module 355 in aconventional manner. The visual message may contain addressing data,identification data or other data corresponding to the visual messagewhich is also stored. After the visual message is received, an alert maybe generated for notifying a user that a message has been received. Theuser may then select a display message option provided by the userinterface 356 to cause the stored visual message to be displayed on theuser interface 356 LCD or LED display.

When a user wishes to send a voice message in reply to a received visualmessage, the user enables a voice reply mode via user interface 356.This causes the controller 357 to read the necessary addressinginformation from the processing module 355 and memory 358 for addressingand sending the voice reply message to the originator of the receivedmessage. Optionally, the user may enter addressing informationassociated with the received visual message manually using a keypad, aspreviously described. After enabling the voice reply mode, the userspeaks into the microphone of the user interface 356, and a real-timevoice message is transmitted to the IMG 150 for forwarding, in nonreal-time, to the visual message originator (e.g., messaging device105). In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, apre-recorded voice message is transmitted to the IMG 150 as will bedescribed in detail hereinafter.

When a mobile communication device receives a visual message, the mobilecommunication device also receives and stores messaging data associatedwith the visual message. This messaging data may include, but is notlimited to: a reply name, a reply address, a reply code, a reply typecode, and reply subject matter.

The reply name is generally the name of the person who sent the visualmessage. The reply address may be an e-mail address such as“jsmith@hotmail.com” or an abbreviated address such as a sequence ofletters and/or numbers that is associated with an e-mail address storedat the IMG 150. The reply address may also include an IMG 150 systemidentifier or e-mail system identifier or a telephone number to aparticular IMG 150. The reply code is a code that corresponds to theoriginal visual message stored at the MSO's 125 or PSO's 130 e-mailsystem or at IMG 150. The reply type code indicates the type of voicemessage that is allowable by the system (i.e. pre-recorded, real-time,analog, digital, format, etc.). The type code may also indicate theallowable length or size of a voice Message. The reply subject mattermay contain to the original text subject matter of the received visualmessage.

A complete system according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention will now be described in connection with the mobile telephone145 and the MSO 125 system of FIG. 2B. The mobile telephone 145 isenabled to receive visual messages from the MSO 125 using any number ofmethods previously described. The system may operate in any number offormats including CDMA, TDMA, GSM, etc. Short messaging service (SMS)for sending text messages to a mobile telephone is well known to thoseskilled in the art of mobile telephone systems. Other methods fordelivering visual messages are also very common. For example, a modemcould be added to an analog mobile telephone or tone signaling could beused for transmitting text from the MSO 125 to the mobile telephone 145.The use of CDPD is also quite common in the art of mobile telephonesystems.

In order to send a visual message from the messaging device 105 to themobile telephone 145, a user of messaging device 105 creates an e-mailmessage using an e-mail program, such as one provided from AOL, Lotus,Netscape or Microsoft. The e-mail message is sent from the messagingdevice 105 to the MSO 125 via data network 120. An e-mail gateway (EMG)115 is configured at the MSO 125 for receiving the e-mail message fordelivery to the mobile telephone 145. Such a configuration is well knownto those skilled in the art of mobile telephone systems.

After the e-mail message is received by the EMG 115, the MSO 125transmits a signal to the mobile telephone 145. The signal includes thee-mail message and messaging data associated with the e-mail message.For this example, the signal consists of a reply name of “John Doe,” areply code, and the e-mail message, as shown below:

From: John Doe

To: Mary Jane

Subject: Airport Delay

Reply code: 12

Mary,

-   -   My Flight is Delayed. I now arrive at 10:00 p.m., Flt. 2216.        The reply code is a code that is associated with the e-mail        message stored in EMG 115. The reply code may be any sequence of        numbers or characters, such as: 12 or 123ABC. Each message        stored in the EMG 115 has a unique reply code associated with        it.

The antenna 351 of mobile telephone 145 receives the signal sent fromthe MSO 125. The receiver 353 demodulates the signal to recover thee-mail message and message data contained in the signal. The processingmodule 355 stores the e-mail message and message data in memory andcauses the user interface 356 to alert the user that a message hasarrived.

Upon being alerted, the user may activate the user interface 356 tocause the processor 355 to read the stored visual message and associatedmessaging data from the memory and display it on a display screen forviewing by the user. The time at which the message was sent or deliveredmay also be displayed on the display screen. Additionally, a replyindicator, which is triggered by the reply code and gives an indicationto the user that the visual message selected is one in which a voicereply may be sent, is displayed. After viewing the displayedinformation, the user makes a decision to send a voice reply message tothe originator by selecting a reply option provided by the userinterface.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a process performed by thecontroller 357 for sending a voice reply message. The process beginswith step 402, where the controller 357 receives an indication that theuser has selected a reply option from the user interface 356 and, thus,enters a reply mode. Flow proceeds to step 404, where the controller 357reads the memory from processing module 355 for messaging datacorresponding to the visual message to which the user desires to reply.A pre-programmed telephone number to the MSO 125 for connection to theIMG 150 is also read from memory 358 or obtained from the messagingdata. The messaging data may or may not include a reply code. If themessaging data does not include a reply code, the process proceeds tostep 406, otherwise the process proceeds to step 412.

In step 406, the controller 357 searches an electronic address book(hereafter “address book”) stored in memory 358 for an addressassociated with the reply name that was included in the messaging data.If the controller 357 does not find such an address, then flow proceedsto step 410, otherwise flow proceeds to step 412. In step 410, the useris informed via a visual or audible indicator that there is no returnaddress and the process ends.

It should be noted that the reply code search at step 404 was for a codethat corresponds to the visual message stored at the MSO 125. If thereply code does not exist, the reply name included in the messaging datais used to search for a corresponding address. As previously described,the reply code might simply be the sequence “12”. Reply codes reduce airtime because all of the necessary addressing information is stored atthe MSO 125 and the reply code points to that data.

In step 412, the controller 357 of mobile telephone 145 attempts toestablish communications with the IMG 150 at the MSO 125 by sending thepre-programmed telephone number read from the memory 358 or obtainedfrom the messaging data. This attempt is automatically accomplished bythe controller 357. After step 412, flow proceeds to step 414, where adetermination is made to see if communication is established. Ifcommunication is not established, flow proceeds to step 416, otherwiseflow proceeds to step 418.

In step 416, the user is informed that a connection could not beestablished and the process ends. If this occurs, the user can simplyattempt to send the reply message at a later time. In step 418, themobile telephone transmits addressing data to the IMG 150, and the IMG150 transmits acceptance or error codes back to the mobile telephone145. The addressing data either includes the reply code or the addressdetermined in step 406.

After step 418, flow proceeds to step 420, where the controller 357checks for “invalid data” error messages sent from the IMG 150. If aninvalid data error is detected, the controller 357 tags the invalidaddressing data stored in the memory 358 as invalid and reads the memory358 for valid messaging data in order to correct the problem. Forexample, if the mobile telephone 145 sends a reply code associated witha message that is no longer available to the IMG 150, the IMG 150 willsend an error code to the mobile telephone 145 indicating that themessage can not be replied to using the current reply code.

When the controller receives this error code it reads the memory 358, tosee if there is a name and address for the recipient stored in memory358 (step 422). If yes, at step 428, flow proceeds to step 418 and theprocess continues. If the controller 357 does not find valid addressingdata, flow proceeds to step 430 where the user is informed of theproblem via an indicator and the process ends.

If at step 420 it is determined that the addressing data is valid, flowproceeds to the message record process at step 424. At step 424, themobile telephone 145 user is informed by the IMG 150 to begin speaking amessage at the tone for the designated recipient. The mobile telephoneuser may also be informed via an LCD or any other means of indication tothe user to begin speaking. The user may also be informed as to how muchtime the user may speak a voice message. For example, “begin speaking a30 second message for Mary Jane at the tone.” However, a preferredembodiment provides for a more efficient means for notifying a user ofthe amount of available record time. As previously discussed, a replytype code can be included in the messaging data transmitted with thevisual message. The reply type code can include a length code indicatingthe amount of time allowable for a reply message. This feature can bevery useful for a mobile telephone 145 user, in that the user isinformed at the time the visual message is viewed, of the amount of timegiven to reply. This advanced notice gives the user time to compose areply message in advance as opposed to finding out two seconds beforerecording starts.

At step 424, the voice message is recorded by the IMG 150 in a mannerconsistent with conventional voice mail systems well known to thoseskilled in the art of voice mail systems. For example, the user may begiven the option to review the message, delete the message, re-recordthe message, etc. When the user is finished recording, flow proceeds tostep 426, where the IMG 150 notifies the mobile telephone 145 user thatthe voice message has been accepted and or sent and the process ends.

As illustrated by the above process, a voice message may be sent as areply message to a visual message. A number of schemes may be used tosend the voice reply message to a messaging device 105 so that themessaging device 105 user knows that the voice message is a voice replyto a particular visual message: In one scheme, the mobile telephone 145simply transmits a reply code to the IMG 150. The reply code correspondsto a particular visual message available to the IMG 150. For example,the visual message could be stored within the IMG 150, MSO 125 or EMG115. When the IMG 150 formats the voice reply message, the IMG 150 caninclude in the reply message the particular visual message associatedwith the reply code.

In another scheme, if the visual message is not available to the IMG150, the mobile telephone 145 searches its memory 358 for a name oraddress. If found, the name or address, together with the receivedvisual message or part of the received visual message, is transmittedalong with the voice message to the IMG 150, which will then create ane-mail message containing the voice message and the received visualmessage or part thereof. The name or address sent to the IMG 150 is usedby the IMG 150 to address the e-mail message.

In short, if the visual message is available to the IMG 150, and themessaging data transmitted to the mobile telephone 145 includes a replycode, then there is no need for the mobile telephone 145 to transmit tothe IMG 150 anything other than the voice message and the reply code,thereby saving valuable bandwidth.

Voice messages that are not reply messages may also be initiated by themobile telephone 145. The mobile telephone user may simply select apre-stored name or address from a name and address book (also referredto as, “send message list”) stored in memory 358. When the name appearson the display screen, the user simply uses the user interface to selecta send message function and the process starts at step 412, FIG. 4. Thestored name or address is utilized for addressing the voice message andthe process proceeds as previously described.

Voice messages transmitted from the mobile telephone 145 may be analogor digital. If analog transmission is utilized, the IMG 150 converts theanalog voice message to digital data representative of the voice messagefor storage and transmission to the messaging device 105. If the voicemessage is in digital format, the digital data representative of thevoice message may be stored directly by the IMG 150.

Additionally, a voice message may be pre-recorded and stored in memory358 for transmission to the IMG 150. In such a configuration, a digitalsignal processor and associated analog to digital converter may also beconfigured with the controller 357 in a conventional manner forrecording voice messages and storing the voice messages as data inmemory 358. If the stored voice message is to be transmitted in analogformat, then a digital to analog converter may also be utilized forconverting the voice message data stored in memory 358 back to analog.For a pre-recorded voice message configuration, step 424 of FIG. 4 wouldbe changed to: Recall the stored message from memory and transmit withassociated addressing data. Optionally, the stored voice message my becompressed by conventional compression algorithms prior to beingtransmitted.

In connection with the paging transceiver 140, it should be noted that atelephone call is not normally initiated between a paging transceiverand the pager switching office (PSO) 300. In the case of pagingtransceiver 140 sending voice messages to the PSO 130, a pre-recordedvoice message, as opposed to a real-time voice message, may be sent aspreviously described. However, at step 412, a telephone connection isnot established. Step 412 would be changed to: Page PSO 130 utilizing aconventional voice paging protocol such as Inflection, pACT, etc. Step414 would be changed to: Did the PSO 130 respond to the selective call(i.e. page and handshake). Finally, step 424 would be changed to:Transmit the pre-recorded voice message using a paging protocol.Optionally, prior to transmission, the pre-recorded voice message can becompressed using conventional compression algorithms to decrease airtime.

Referring now to FIG. 5, one embodiment of the IMG 150 and EMG 115 areshown. The IMG 150 comprises a voice mail system (VMS) 510 networked toa voice mail gateway (VMG) 520. The IMG 150 may also include a mailserver 530(1). The EMG 115 includes a short messaging service (SMS) 532and an e-mail conversion system (ECS) 531. The EMG 115 may also includea mail server 530(2). Optionally, the EMG 115 and IMG 150 can share thesame mail server 530.

The mail server 530(2) is coupled to data network 120 and receivesvisual messages sent from messaging device 105. The ECS 531 retrievesvisual messages from the mail server 530 and reformats the messages forwireless transmission. The ECS 531 sends the reformatted messages to theSMS 532 where it is queued and sent to the MSO 125 for transmission to atargeted mobile telephone 145. There are many formats and systemsavailable for delivering e-mail messages to the MSO 125 or PSO 130 fortransmission to a mobile telephone 145 or paging transceiver 140,respectively. These systems are well known to those skilled in the artof wireless messaging. Other than the improvement described hereinafter,these systems are readily available.

The VMS 510 is connected to the MSO 125 so that voice messages sent frommobile telephone 145 can be received and stored by the VMS 510. The VMScan be directly connected to the MSO 125 (as shown in FIG. 2B) or theVMS 510 can be connected to the MSO 125 through the PSTN 110.

The VMS 510 is an enhanced voice mail system. Voice mail systems arereadily available from manufacturers such as Centigram CommunicationsCorporation in San Jose, Calif., to Nortel Networks in Santa Clara,Calif. and AVT in Kirkland, Wash., to name a few. The VMG 520 is anenhanced voice mail gateway. Voice mail gateway systems are also readilyavailable from the above manufacturers. Voice mail systems and voicemail gateways are generally software driven and adaptable to variousmessaging environments. These systems are easily networked forcommunication between different manufacturer's platforms. Additionally,these systems have evolved to the point that many have the capability ofsharing messages and data between platforms. One such systemmanufacturer is Data Connection Limited in Enfield, England. DataConnection Limited manufactures voice mail systems, voice mail gatewaysand networking systems which will communicate utilizing a protocolcalled “Voice Profile for Internet Mail” (VPIM). The VPIM protocol is acommon messaging language for the transport of voice messages betweenplatforms. VPIM additionally allows for the sending of voice messagesfrom a computer or voice mail system to a voice mail system or computervia the Internet. Other than the improvements described hereinafter,voice mail systems, voice mail gateways, voice mail networks, mailservers, e-mail gateways, short messaging service systems, MSO systems,protocols for transmitting voice messages over the Internet andprotocols for transmitting e-mail messages to a wireless transceiver arewell known to those skilled in the art of these systems and are readilyavailable.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate a process for receiving voice messages from amobile telephone 145 or paging transceiver 140 performed by the IMG 150.Referring to FIG. 6A, the process begins in step 600, where the IMG 150is placed in call stand-by mode where it awaits a call. When a call isreceived from a mobile telephone 145, the VMS 510 receives from the MSO125 subscriber identification data corresponding to the mobile telephone145 which placed the call (step 602). The subscriber identification datamay include the phone number or identification of the mobile telephone145. The name of the subscriber and the subscriber's messaging address,such as an e-mail address, etc., can be found by the MSO 125 by crossindexing the subscriber identification data.

After step 602, flow proceeds to step 604, where the VMS 510 accepts orrejects the call based on the subscriber identification data. If thecall is rejected, flow proceeds to step 606, otherwise flow proceeds tostep 608. In step 606 the call is terminated, an error message istransmitted to the mobile telephone 145, and flow returns to step 600.

In step 608, the VMS 510 receives data from the mobile telephone 145.The data may include a request code. The request code indicates the typeof action requested. For example, a request code of “01” indicates thatthe current request is for sending a general message, and a request code“02” indicates that the current request is for sending a reply message.Request codes may also be used for forwarding, cc, bcc, etc. The datamay also include addressing information such as an e-mail address, anabbreviated e-mail address, a name, subject matter, type, a reply code,a coded address, etc.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention utilizes messaging datacodes whenever possible in order to conserve transmission time. When amobile telephone 145 user wishes to originate a message (as opposed toreply to a message), the user selects the name of the person to whom themessage is to be sent from an address book stored in the telephone 145.When the user activates the send message command after selecting arecipient, only the message to be forwarded to the recipient, a requestcode, and a coded address normally needs to be transmitted to the IMG150.

The request code directs the VMS 510 to perform an action, in this case,the example is to send a message. The coded address corresponds to allother information required to send the message to the recipient, such asthe intended recipient's name, e-mail address, message type code, etc.To send a reply message, only the request code and a reply code need besent together with the reply message.

It should be noted that there are many methods contemplated that may beused for finding information stored at the MSO 125 or IMG 150. A mobiletelephone 145 may, for example, transmit the name of the messagerecipient. The VMS 510, may utilize the received name for looking up theassociated address stored in a database associated with the IMG 150 inorder to reduce the amount of transmission time required by the mobiletelephone 145. The mobile telephone 145 according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention does not transmit the actualaddressing information if that information is otherwise available to theIMG 150 or associated interconnected systems via a coded address or thelike.

Referring back to FIG. 6A, after step 608, flow proceeds to step 610,where the VMS 510 determines the request based on the received requestcode. The request may be to forward a message, reply to a message, senda general message, send a cc, send a bcc, etc. For the purpose ofillustration, the decision step at step 610 has been limited to send ageneral message or send a reply message. The process of sending a copyor forwarding a message, etc. may be readily implemented in a mannerconsistent with the process described in detail hereinafter. If at step610, it is determined that the request is for sending a general voicemessage, flow proceeds to step 616, otherwise a reply message is assumedand flow proceeds to step 640.

Referring to FIG. 6B, at step 616, the VMS 510 determines if the messageto be sent is completely addressed or if the VMS 510 received a codedaddress, which needs to be decoded or cross referenced. If the messageto be sent is completely addressed, flow proceeds to the record voicemessage process, step 626. A completely addressed message would includeinformation pertaining to whom the message is from. This information wasacquired at step 602 from the MSO 125, as previously described. Acompletely addressed message also includes the name and e-mail addressof the recipient such, as: Bill Jones, “Bjones@hotmail.com”.

It is beneficial for the mobile telephone to transmit a completerecipient name and address when the mobile telephone 145 may be roamingin another system area where the IMG 150 does not have a correspondingaddress book. If at step 616 the VMS 510 determines that coded datarepresenting a recipient was received (i.e. coded address), flowproceeds to step 618. At step 618, the VMS 510 searches an address bookstored in its database for a corresponding match. The VMS 510 mayalternatively utilize an algorithm for converting the code to an addressor name.

After step 618, flow proceeds to step 620, where the VMS 510 determinesif the recipient address can be produced from the coded information orfound in the VMS 510 address book. If at step 620 an address cannot beobtained, flow proceeds to step 622, where an error is transmitted tothe mobile telephone 145, the connection is terminated and the processis returned. If an address is obtained at step 620 flow proceeds to step626.

Step 626 is a voice recording process performed by the VMS 510. If areal-time voice message is to be received by the VMS 510, then voiceprompts are returned to the mobile telephone 145 (e.g., “start recordingat the tone”). The VMS 510 allows a caller to review, re-record, append,erase, etc., messages in a manner consistent with typical voice mailsystems. If, on the other hand, a non-real-time message is to bereceived, then voice prompts are not returned. A record type indicatoris transmitted from the mobile telephone 145 at the beginning of step626 indicating the desired recording format (i.e., real-time vs.pre-recorded). A paging transceiver 140 may, for example, utilize thepre-recorded format while a mobile telephone 145 may utilize a real-timerecording format.

At step 626, the voice message is received from the mobile telephone 145and recorded by the VMS 510. Recording stops after an assigned amount oftime or after the VMS 510 receives a stop record command from the mobiletelephone 145. Recording may also be terminated by the VMS 510responsive to a noisy communications connection. When the recording iscomplete, the VMS 510 sends an acknowledgment to the mobile telephone145 and the communication is terminated (step 628). Flow then proceedsto step 630, where the VMS 510 transfers the voice message and thenecessary addressing information to the VMG 520.

The VMG 520 converts the voice message to a conventional audio fileformat suitable for transmission over the Internet 120 and reproductionby the destination messaging device 105. An example of a conventionalaudio file format is the “.wav” format developed by Microsoft. The VMG520 also creates an e-mail message comprising the converted voicemessage and uses the addressing information to address the e-mail. Theconverted voice message can be stored in a file and attached to thee-mail message.

The addressed e-mail message is then forwarded to a mail server such asthe mail server 530 (step 632). The VMG 520 preferably inserts the words“voice message” in the subject line of the e-mail And insertsinstructions for playing the message in the body of the e-mail. It ispreferable that the e-mail message be given a priority level equal toprimary mail so that it will not be inadvertently filtered by arecipient's e-mail system that limits attachments or treats attachmentsas secondary mail. After the addressed e-mail message is delivered tothe mail server 530, the process returns to step 600. The mail server530 is responsible for sending the addressed e-mail message to theintended recipient.

Referring back to FIG. 6A, at step 610, if the request is for a reply,flow proceeds to step 640. Referring you to FIG. 6C, at step 640, theVMS 510 searches for the original message and addressing informationfiles for sending a reply message. This information is located bycorrelating a received reply code with an archived original messagefile. The original visual message data may be archived on the mailserver 530, the VMG 520, the VMS 510 or any other associated device. Forthis description, the archived e-mail visual message file is stored inan archive file on the mail server 530 for a 5 day period.

After step 640, flow proceeds to step 642, where the VMS 510 determinesif the reply information corresponding to the received reply code ispresent in an archive file. If the reply information is not present,then flow proceeds to step 644, otherwise flow proceeds to step 658.

In step 644, the VMS 510 requests reply addressing information from themobile telephone 145. Flow then proceeds to step 646, where the VMS 510analyzes the information received from the mobile telephone 145. If thereply addressing information is complete, flow proceeds to the recordprocess (step 658). If the reply information is coded, flow proceeds tostep 648 where the address and or name is calculated or found, aspreviously described. Flow then proceeds to step 650 where the VMS 510makes a determination as to the validity of to received data. If noaddressing data was received or if the data received was not valid, flowproceeds to step 652, where an error code is returned to the mobiletelephone 145, communication is terminated, and the process returns tostep 600. If at step 650 it is determined that the data is valid, flowproceeds to step 658.

At step 658, if the process flow is from step 642, the “reply to” name,address, subject matter and text are obtained from the e-mail archive atthe mail server 530 via the VMG 520 and appended to the voice message bythe VMS 510. The “mailed from” information, as previously described, isobtained by the VMS 510 when communication is established by crossindexing the subscriber identification data with the subscriber database associated with the VMS 510. At step 658, if the process flow isfrom step 650 or step 646, a “reply to” name, address and subject matterincluding “mail from” information is appended or attached to the voicemessage by the VMS 510.

It should be noted that the preferred method for receiving replyinformation from a mobile telephone 145 is to receive a reply code inorder to conserve transmission time. The original message file stored inthe archive at the mail server 530 provides all of the necessaryinformation required to send a reply. The next preferred method forreceiving reply information from the mobile telephone 145 is to send acoded address and subject matter. The coded address may then becorrelated with the subscribers mailing list stored at the VMS 510 inorder to produce the name and/or address. The least favorable method isto receive from the mobile telephone 145 the complete name, completeaddress and subject matter.

During step 658, the voice message is recorded by the VMS 510 in thesame manner as to described with reference to step 626. After step 658,flow proceeds to step 660 where the call is terminated. The VMS 510 thensends to the VMG 520 the recorded voice message, addressing data, and apointer to or the actual visual message to which the voice message is areply (step 662). The VMG 520 converts the recorded voice message to anacceptable Internet and messaging device 105 format and packages thereply voice message with the original visual message for transmission.Flow proceeds to step 664, where the VMG 520 forwards the packagedaddressed message (i.e. audio and visual) to the mail server 530 fortransmission to the messaging device 105, as previously described, andthe process returns to step 600.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a visual message 700 received anddisplayed by a messaging device 105. The visual message 700 includes avoice message in the “.wav” format attached thereto. Because the visualmessage 700 includes a voice message as an attachment the visual message700 is referred to as an audio/visual message. FIG. 8 illustrates anexample of a reply audio/visual message 800 received and displayed by amessaging device 105 including the original visual message sent to themobile telephone 145. If the original message is no longer archived (aspreviously described) or available to the IMG 150, the original messagewould not be included. However, the subject: Re: Airport Delay, wouldstill be included.

Referring once again to FIG. 3, the mobile telephone 145 or pagingtransceiver 140 can store names and addresses or abbreviated addressesand coded addresses in an address book stored in memory 358. When themobile telephone 145 receives a visual message, the user may select an“add to list” feature from the user interface 356, causing thecontroller 357 to add to the address book the name and actual address ofthe individual who sent the message, along with an abbreviated or codedaddress corresponding to the actual address.

As previously described, it is preferable that the mobile telephone 145transmit coded address information representative of an actual addressstored in the IMG 150. However, there may be times, such as when themobile telephone is roaming in another IMG 150 system area, when it isnecessary to transmit an un-coded name and address. In order to solvethis problem, the mobile telephone 145, according to one embodiment, maystore both the complete name and address and a coded address whichcorresponds to the complete address information stored at the IMG 150.

When the IMG 150 sends a visual message to the mobile telephone 145,complete addressing information is also sent if the coded address is notalready stored in memory 358 of the mobile telephone 145. In otherwords, the IMG 150 need not transmit information to the mobile telephone145, if the information is already stored there. When a visual messageis transmitted to the mobile telephone 145, the IMG 150 first sends acoded address to the mobile telephone 145. The controller 357 thensearches for corresponding complete addressing information stored inmemory 358. If a match is found, the mobile telephone 145 indicates tothe IMG 150 that a match was found. The IMG 150 then does not need totransmit the actual data. It is a simple matter for the controller 357to insert the corresponding name and address in the proper place withinthe message indicating from whom the message was sent. If the completeaddress information including the name is not stored in the memory 358,the mobile telephone 145 indicates to the IMG 150 that a match was notfound. The IMG 150 then transmits the complete information to the mobiletelephone 145 for storage.

When the mobile telephone 145 receives a visual message from the IMG150, the message is stored as previously described for viewing on an LCDtype display. When a mobile telephone 145 user views the message, theuser may elect to save the name and address. The name and address may besaved in memory 358 by selecting the “add to list” option on the userinterface which causes the controller 357 to store the addressinformation in the address book in memory 358 for addressing out-goingvoice messages.

The first time that the mobile telephone 145 transmits the saved addressinformation to the IMG 150 (i.e. when sending a message), the IMG 150will issue an associated coded address to the mobile telephone 145 forstorage in memory 358. The mobile telephone 145 then adds the codedaddress to the entry in its address book associated with the storedaddress. The IMG 150 adds the address information and coded address toits address book. In this manner, the mobile telephone 145 need onlytransmit the complete address information one time. Thereafter, only thecoded address need be transmitted.

A mobile telephone subscriber may also add an address to the mobiletelephone 145 address book using a messaging device 105. The subscribermay simply send an “address list message” to their own mobile telephone145. An “address list message” is a visual message having apredetermined format and including a list of names and correspondingaddresses. One example of an address list message is an e-mail messagewherein the body of the e-mail includes a list of address book entries,wherein each entry includes a name and at least one correspondingaddress. FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of an address list message.When an address list message is received by the IMG 150, the IMG 150detects that the message is an address list message based on its formatand reads the names and address, and transmits the names, addresses andcorresponding coded address information to the mobile telephone 145 foraddition to the mobile telephone 145 address book. The IMG 150 also addsthe same names, addresses and to corresponding coded addresses to itsaddress book. In an alternative embodiment, the address list message issent to the mobile telephone 145. Upon the address list message beingreceived, the controller 357 parses the message to obtain the names andcorresponding addresses to be added to the address book. After obtainingthe names and corresponding addresses, the controller adds them to theaddress book.

The integrated voice and visual messaging system described andillustrated herein is readily adaptable to a plurality of messagingformats, protocols, modulation schemes and system configurations. Voicemessages may be transmitted from a mobile communication device such as apaging transceiver 140 or a mobile telephone 145 to an integratedmessage gateway for forwarding over the Internet or other type ofnetwork to a personal computer or other visual messaging device. Voicemessages may be transmitted to the integrated mail gateway in analog ordigital format. Additionally, voice messages may be pre-recorded at themobile communication device for non real-time transmission or real-timevoice messages may be transmitted to the integrated mail gateway forforwarding in non real-time. The system is adaptable to various wirelesstelephone systems and paging systems. The mobile communication devicemay be configured in a mobile telephone, pager, wireless PDA, or otherwireless device which provides visual messaging and includes means forvoice communications.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of thepresent invention should not be limited by any of the above-describedexemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with thefollowing claims and their equivalents:

1. A method for integrating voice and text messaging comprising: anintegrated mail gateway (i) storing a text message, and (ii) receivingreply messaging data and voice data from a first wireless cellularmessaging device as a response to a text message; the integrated mailgateway, upon receiving the reply messaging data and voice data, usingsaid reply messaging data to generate a message for transmission to asecond wireless cellular messaging device, the message including saidtext message from the memory and the voice data.